TMT deals in mainland and Hong Kong total US$53.7b in the past nine months
Privatisation scheme of mobile operator China Unicom’s state-owned parent tops the 233 mergers and acquisitions recorded between January and September this year
The US$9.2 billion partial privatisation of China Unicom’s Shanghai-listed parent has emerged as the biggest deal among 233 mergers and acquisitions, worth US$53.7 billion, recorded in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) sectors of the mainland and Hong Kong between January and September this year.
The transaction also ranked as the fourth largest among a global total of 2,370 TMT deals, worth US$299.5 billion, in the same nine-month period as mainland companies remained the world’s most active dealmakers behind those in the United States, according to the latest estimates from research firm Mergermarket.
Despite that activity, Mergermarket said the number and amount of TMT transactions the past nine months were lower than in the same period last year, when 257 deals on the mainland and in Hong Kong generated a total sum of US$71.8 billion.
That followed draconian measures imposed by Beijing to restrict outbound payments and investments after its foreign exchange reserves fell by nearly US$1 trillion over a period of 2 1/2 years from their June 2014 peak. Reserves have stopped shrinking as a result.
The strategic new investors were led by China Life Insurance, the mainland’s largest life insurer, which obtained a 10.22 per cent stake.